Rivals, Rivals, Rivals
by Whitehorse102
Summary: Everyone's favorite Princess of Hoenn has been hard at work in Johto. But...with only three ribbons under her belt, and the constent threat of new and old rivals popping up, the Grand Festival has never felt so far away! Not to mention, one rival in particuliar has been lately bring her cheeks to the same color as the roses he gives her!


**Hey! Lately been being nawed at by my Contestshipping feels, and i figured I'd make another MayxDrew. There's an OC or two coming up in here too, for a change. This story is a little different then i normally do, but, eh. YOLO! Haha, not that I'm big on the whole YOLO phase or anything, but...uh...REMEMBER, REVIEW!**

"Here!" May said cheerfully to herself. She had stopped at the top of a cliff, where she could see the sunset dip below the hills. Farther off, Violet City gleamed. She looked down. "Whoa. That's kinda steep. Better be careful." The cliff side was, indeed, steep. A few ledges jutted out here and there, but for the most part, it was a one way fall. May thought she could see one branch of vegetation growing out, way out of the way.

She turned back around. "You know, add a fence and a Pokemon center, and this would be exactly like Fennel Valley, back in Kanto!" It was true, as May wasn't standing on a clear expanse of mountain range. No, in fact, there was a small rock hold that would serve as May's camp site for the night. It was only a little smaller than Fennel Valley, but May could picture everything nearly perfectly.

May smiled, and shook her head. "Don't dwell on the past. I have got to start setting up camp." She reached behind her, into her pack, and pulled out a small pokeball. She tossed it into the air, and it opened. Out with a blast of white light came Blaziken. Blaziken yelled to the sky triumphantly. "Blaze!"

"Wanna help me set up camp for the night, Blaziken?" May asked, putting her hands behind her back.

"Blaze!"

And so, the duo started on their tent. May made sure she was far enough away from the edge, but not so close to the trail as to get in the way or be awakened by any travelers. Blaziken started a fire, and May brought out all her Pokemon so they could have dinner. "Okay! Eat away!" May smiled as her Pokemon dug in. She sat down on her sleeping bag as she ate. "I may not be as good as Brock, but I don't think I'm half bad."

Her Pokemon looked up to assure her that she was just as good with a chorus of various shouts.

May smiled, giggling as she took a bit out of her packed dinner from earlier. She watched the flames for a second, then looked up at the night sky. A thousand stars seemed to be looking down upon her with warm gazes. "Hmm." She thought out loud. "Maybe we could combine Glaceon's Ice Beam with her shadow ball. But the problem is, how could Glaceon possibly be fast enough to land a direct hit?"

She sighed, and yawned. "I guess it can wait until morning."

The next morning, May stood at the edge of the cliff once more. She was enjoying the wind. It was rather high today, and little did May know it was said to pick up. She turned away from the cliff, and threw Glaceon's pokeball into the air. Glaceon was soon out. "Alright! Today's the day we work on some awesome combination moves!"

Glaceon got into a ready position.

"Shadow ball! Then follow with a quick Ice Beam!" May called.

Glaceon lifted her head, and opened her mouth. A ball of dark energy appeared. With a twist of her neck, she threw it towards a rock.

"Ice beam, now!"

Glaceon shot a beam of blue energy towards the shadow ball-but it was too late. The ball crashed into the rock, shattering it, and all the ice beam managed to do was freeze the smaller pieces of the ground. Glaceon's ears dropped with disappointment.

"None of that!" May reprimanded with a smile and light tone. "It was only our first try. We'll keep at it."

And so they did. They worked until the sun was high into the sky, and only then was May beginning to notice how high the wind was getting-and how hungry she was getting. "Let's take a break, Glaceon. I think it's time for a little lunch."

Glaceon turned, and nodded happily with a purr.

May walked back towards her camp, Glaceon followed, only to stop a few paw steps later. Her ears twitched. She turned, and cried out happily.

May stood, overhearing Glaceon's happy cry. "Huh? Who is it?"

A boy was walking down the trail, but he stopped when he saw May. A smug smile broke across his face. "May!"

Drew had been wandering around. He had just gotten his fifth ribbon from the latest contest, and now he was figuring it was time to start training for the next Grand Festival. True, it wasn't going to happen until three months from now, but he knew from past experiences to always be prepared.

The thought of the Grand Festival stuck in his mind like a glob of honey. He looked forward to it, but he was unsure about all of his opponents. Some more than others. Harley(if Drew ever had the un-pleasure of battling him) didn't worry him much. Harley's battle style revolved around dirty tricks and nasty surprises. Drew, after battling him twice in the Johto region, had found that Harley's surprises were easy to defeat. Plus, he always was out to get May. Drew was happy for the excuse to put him in his place.

The thought of May made him smile. When he had first met her, back in Hoenn, he thought that she was unprofessional, and was destined to lose. But then, he saw what an effect she could leave on the audience, and how much she grew. Drew doubted he knew it, but now, she always gave him a run for his money, for sure.

Suddenly, a girl on a bicycle riding by stopped her pedaling to stare at Drew. He smiled politely, then yelled. "Look out!"

The girl was heading straight for a tree. She looked forward. "Whoa!" She cried. She yanked on her handle bars furiously, and her bike just started to turn before she crashed. Her bike slid away, and she went sprawling the other.

"H-Hey! Are you alright?" Drew called.

The girl got up. "Ow…Yes, I'm fine." She stood up, and brushed off her knees. Drew looked her up and down. She had long, wavy blond hair going down to nearly her knees. Her eyes were a deep blue, and she wore jean shorts and a T-shirt with a pokeball on it. On her back, was a small blue backpack that matched her eyes. She blushed as Drew walked over, and scratched her head. "Guess I should watch where I'm going more."

Drew narrowed his eyes. "You seem familiar."

"Really? I get that a lot." She smiled. "But I know who you are. You're Drew! I think your contests are always amazing. Your Roserade is something else, let me tell you."

"Thanks." Drew hated when he ran into someone who knew him. The last time…well, he was pretty sure that he might still be getting stalked.

The girl stretched her back, and picked up her bike. "I hear you've just won your fifth ribbon."

Drew nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't easy though."

"Well, that's what makes it fun!" She smiled, and held out her hand. "I'm Annie. It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Drew shook her hand, and was surprised. A lot of times, his fans hands were clammy with perspiration. But, Drew was starting to doubt that this was one of the fans who would swoon over him.

Annie checked her bike over. "I'm starting to get worried about my poor bike. I think if I crash it one more time, it'll just fall apart!"

Drew laughed. "You crash a lot?"

"Tons of times." Annie said, and Drew couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. She swung her leg over her bike, and backed away from the tree carefully. "Okay, we'll, I have to go. It was nice meeting you!" She called the last part over her shoulder as she pedaled away.

"Weird." Drew muttered under his breath. He walked on. He remembered that the wind was supposed to pick up nearly the mountain range…which is what he was in. He would have to be careful if he ever came across any steep drops.

Now, May was pleasantly surprised to see her rival. "Drew!" She waved as he walked towards her. "What's up? How have you been?"

"It's been good. Nothing is really up right now. Just training for the Grand Festival for a while." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Wait. Don't tell me you've gotten all five of your ribbons already?!" She gasped.

Drew nodded, and showed her his ribbon case. He tried not to smile at her expression.

"No way!"

"It's not like you don't have time to catch up. The Grand Festival isn't for three months."

May exhaled, putting her hand on her chest. "Phew! I was hoping it wouldn't be like the other two times."

Drew laughed, remembering how in both the Hoenn League and the Kanto League she hadn't really truly been prepared for the Grand Festival, and she had to win the last contest before the Festival. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

May raised her eyebrows. She wasn't used to Drew actually giving encouragement. He normally didn't blurt it out like that. She shook her head to clear it. "We were just training." She nodded to Glaceon who was sitting next to May.

"How do you think it's going?"

"Honestly speaking, not to well." She sighed. "But, I'm sure we'll get the hang of it sooner or later."

"The best of luck with that. Say, are you planning on entering the Violet City Pokemon Contest?"

"Yes. How'd you know?"

"Violet City is just past this mountain range. I figured you stopped here because it was on the way." Drew pointed over the cliff to the far off City.

"I'm looking forward to it. I'm guessing your not going to be in it, huh?"

Drew wondered if he imagined the disappointment in her tone. "Nah. I've got my ribbons. Now it's just a matter of training." By habit, he flicked his fingers through his hair.

She nodded. "I get it." She walked over to the cliff, the wind whistling. She clasped her hands tightly over her chest. "I'm really nervous, honestly speaking."

"May, look out!" Drew lunged for her just as the wind picked up widly.

May was forced backwards, and the ledge gave way under half her foot. She screamed as she fell, only to be cut off abruptly as Drew grabbed her hand, and she hung there. "Hand on!" Drew yelled, the wind making it hard for him to keep his balance. Even though he was lying down, the wild wind still whipped his clothes and hair around, and nearly moved May.

May looked down, and bit her lip.

Glaceon ran to the edge, next to Drew. She cried out to May.

_That's it! _May thought. With her free hand, she reached for her bag. She grabbed one pokeball, and pressed the center. It grew in her hand, and she tossed in the air. "Beautifly! Use String Shot!"

Out of the ball came a beautiful butterfly-like Pokemon. It immediately used string shot, wrapped around Drew and May's hand. Glaceon grabbed onto the string, and pulled along with Beautifly and Drew. Soon, May was up on the cliff again,, and all were breathing hard. "Thanks Beautifly, that was close." May said, returning the butterfly-like pokemon.

Drew blushed, and May wondered why, until she looked down. His hand was still over hers, and he was unable to remove it. For Beautifly's string shot had tightly wrapped they're hands together, and the sticky strands held fast. "You're Beautifly's string shot is pretty strong." Drew said, flicking his hair through his hair. He wouldn't met May's eyes.

May's cheeks felt hot as well. "Y-Yeah. Only in this case, it's more of a problem than anything." She pulled herself, but only managed to loosen the strands.

Glaceon ran up, and started to gnaw on the string. Thanks to it's sharp teeth, the two were soon free. But Drew held on for a few seconds before letting go. "Thank you, Glaceon." He said, placing his hand on the blue pokemon's head. She cried out her call happily.

May couldn't seem to dispose of the blush on her cheeks. She rubbed her hand, then a gust of wind ruffled her hair.

"Let's get away from this cliff." Drew said, standing up and offering May a hand.

She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. They walked farther back, towards May's tent. Glaceon followed. There, Drew looked at May's sleeping bag.

"Oh, that?" May laughed. She picked up the magazine. "It's the latest issue of Coordinator Weekly!"

Drew blinked. The girl on the cover…was the girl he had seen earlier. The one who had crashed into a tree-Annie. Only here, she was on stage. A Leafeon battled on the stage with her. The photo had caught Annie in mid-shout of an instruction, and Leafeon was in a battle position. The opponent, a Empolieon, looked exhausted. The sub-title read:

_Learn all about Annie! The latest Coordinator, who is nearly at a par on power with Wallace himself!_

_ No way! _Drew thought.

May looked at the cover, and sighed. "I'm really nervous for the Violet City contest because of her. She's supposed to be competing. The magazine was just released yesterday, and it said she was headed to Violet City to compete."

"Oh. Well, then you've got yourself a tough opponent to beat."

"Beat her?" May gasped. "I can't! Have you ever seen her?"

Drew shook his head.

May sighed exasperatedly. "And you say that _I _don't know anything! I would show you, but I'm afraid my laptop is a wreck of metal at the moment." She slumped.

"Well, then I'll just see her at the contest at Violet City. Be seeing you." He waved as he walked away, too quick for May to ask him if that meant he was going to watch.


End file.
